Brabham charity dinner raises £20,000

From left: Former F1 driver David Brabham, artist Ian Cook and chef director at Opus at Cornwall Street David Colcombe with the commissioned artwork which raised £3,000

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A charity dinner which gave guests the chance to guest edit the Birmingham Post as an auction prize has raised almost £20,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and the British Heart Foundation.

Called Life In The Fast Lane, it featured a Q&A session with former F1 driver David Brabham and his son Sam at city centre restaurant Opus at Cornwall Street, an auction and raffle.

Among the lots was the chance to be guest editor of the Post, which was sealed for £300 by letting agency owner Nicola Fleet-Milne, and a specially commissioned painting by city-based artist Ian Cook who uses the tyres on remote-controlled cars for his creations.

This was snapped up for £3,000 while an invitation for two to the 2015 British Grand Prix at Silverstone as VIP guests of the Brabhams raised £3,600.

Brabham spoke about the careers of both himself and his legendary father Sir Jack Brabham and a Brabham F1 car was also on display in the basement of the restaurant.

The event was organised by Matt Shaw, partner of law firm Forresters, Jason Wouhra, of East End Foods, and Clive Reeves Public Relations.

Mr Reeves said: "To raise so much money for two fantastic causes was as rewarding as the evening was brilliant.

"We had some prestigious auction prizes on offer and we have to give our thanks to everybody who kindly donated and made this amount possible.

"There is a huge fanbase for motorsport in the Midlands and it was brilliant to host a sold out racing themed event outside of London.

"It's a rarity to be able to invite a former F1 driver down for the evening and the speed at which the tickets sold proved that."